Title: Affectionless
Author: LilPrincess48
Disclaimer: *off-key to the tune of I Wish I Was An Oscar Meyer Weiner* I wish I was J.K. Rowling, that is who I really want to be. 'Cause if I was J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter would belong to me!!!
Author's Note: The reviews you have given me… They make me so happy. I cannot express my extreme joy that I get from your support in my time of feverish delusion. And I would just like to inform you that this story has, like, five or six or seven chapters, and they're not all finished. And I can't even beat myself at War. Doesn't that say something about me as a card player?
Date Begun: June 21, 2004
Date Posted: June 21, 2004
Chapter 3: Collaborating With Ginny and Malfoy
Hermione was sure to be quiet as she snuck out past the Fat Lady, heading to the Room of Requirement. She and Ginny had arranged a secret meeting, one that would help Hermione in her resolve not to fall for Harry's charms. She did NOT need his touch, dammit! She was independent! She was free! She was not a Harry-addict.
Well, not really.
I need a place to meet Ginny. She thought, walking back and forth in front of the wall. In less than a few seconds, a door appeared. Hermione opened it and stepped inside. It was a dimly lit room with a table in the center under an overhead lamp. There were numerous papers on the table and chairs and beanbag seats littered the room. Ginny sat in the beanbag seat in the corner.
"Finally, you're here. You'd think being part of the Trio would make you able to sneak out of your room faster." The girl teased light-heartedly. Hermione made a face at her, then smiled and closed the door behind her.
"Let's get down to business. I want to get this done as quickly as possible. Just because I'm Head Girl doesn't mean--" Hermione paused. "What is he doing in here?!"
Draco Malfoy had just stepped out of the shadows on the opposite ends of the room and was now smirking at her. She glared fiercely. Ginny blushed.
"Well, er, you see, Draco kind of, I mean, he, um, and... Well..." Ginny stammered, fiddling with her fingers. Draco rolled his eyes and looked at Hermione.
"What she meant to say was, she enlisted my help on this plan. Like it or lump it, Granger." The Slytherin boy drawled. Hermione glared at Malfoy and Ginny in turn, then sighed. What choice did she have?
"Fine. But if he comes anywhere near me, I'll hex him into the next millennium!" No one in the room doubted that she could. Hermione took a seat safely on the other end of the room from Malfoy, who sat down in a chair next to Ginny. Hermione regarded them carefully. "I take it you two are still--"
"Congratulations, Granger. You're not as dense as you look." This comment provoked a sharp slap on the arm from Ginny and Draco smirked and fell silent again. Ginny stood.
"Okay, so far, it has not been going well. It's quite obvious that Harry is playing the 'flirtation' card--"
"Potter knows how to flirt?" Draco asked in mock innocence. Ginny and Hermione shot him a glare.
"As I was saying, I think the best choice as of now is to avoid him completely until the week is over, Hermione." The girl in question twitched, a motion which caused Draco and Ginny to raise an eyebrow.
"I can't do that, Ginny. We have all our classes together. And, besides, there's a match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff today. He'd be awfully disappointed if I didn't--"
"You know, it's exactly talk like that that makes everybody think you two are dating." Hermione shot Draco and inquisitive look. "Think about it, Granger. You never miss any of his matches and you're always there to hug him if he wins, and console him if he doesn't. You're always together, always joking around with each other, and I bet you know more about him than even he does, am I right?" When Hermione didn't deny it, he continued. "You ever think that maybe it isn't Harry's fault that all these rumors are flying around. Maybe it's both of your faults?"
Hermione stood up, her voice frosty. "Goodnight, Ginny."
Then, blatantly ignoring Malfoy's presence on the planet, she left. Ginny and Draco exchanged glances.
"Well," He said, leaning back in his seat. "That could have gone better."
*
"And Potter has caught the snitch! The Gryffindors win 240 to 90!" Hermione stood and cheered, her voice drowned out among the many other Gryffindor fans in the stadium! She waved as Harry flew past the stands and ginned as he winked at her, his face alight with happiness. She loved to see him like this, happy, carefree... It was quite a contrast to how he should act considering his life was in constant peril.
The Gryffindor Quidditch Team landed their brooms and Hermione raced out of the stands, intending to give Harry his congratulations hug, as always.
It was routine. Harry landed his broom a few yards away from the stands. She ran out of the stands, her arms outstretched. He saw her coming and opened his own arms with a laugh. They hugged and he'd spin her around and around till she got dizzy, both of them laughing and laughing...
However, today, that wasn't what happened. As Hermione ran to Harry to give him a hug, he held her away, looking slightly flushed, slightly disappointment, and slightly victorious. "Think about what you're doing here, Mione. If you hug me, I win the bet."
Damn that bloody bet. Hermione thought, her face darkening. She folded her arms and glared at him. He merely stared calmly back, as if waiting to see which she would choose. Frustrated, Hermione kicked up the sand, coughing as if formed a dust cloud around them, then stormed off back into the stands.
Harry ran a hand through his hair, almost sorry he had to do that. But, he was quite sure that if he'd hugged Hermione, then reminded her of the bet, he would've ended up with either a nice curse on his head, or a huge bruise on his cheek. Hermione could slap damn hard when she wanted to. Malfoy in third year was proof of that.
Harry picked up his broom and followed the rest of the team into the locker rooms. Ron caught up with him half-way. "What was that about, mate?"
"I reminded her of the bet and she flipped out on me."
"That's Hermione for you. I bet she looked forward to these after-game hugs." Harry laughed along with Ron, but he couldn't help thinking, So did I.
*
Trouble In Paradise?
It has already been reported that the hottest couple of the school, Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Granger, were indeed secretly dating behind all of our backs. But now, it has become evident to us that the couple has hit a rocky path in their relationship. How do we know this? Today's Quidditch match.
Of course, Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff 240 to 90. However, that is not the main point of our article. The main point is, Miss Granger rushed out of the stands to give Mr. Potter his customary congratulations hug (Which, after months of observation, we've discovered to be a routine part of their lives) and was, dare I say it, denied the privilege.
Indeed, Mr. Potter held Miss Granger at bay and said something to her which caused her to storm off in a fit of fury. One of our own was unfortunate enough to try and ask Miss Granger what had occurred and she was reported to say this, 'Get the bloody hell out of my way before I make it so you're throwing up slugs until you're older than Dumbledore!'
No one has tried to approach Miss Granger since.
Could it be that our favorite couple's relationship is going down the drain? And what does Mr. Potter have to say to this? Comments have been as follows:
"Oh, they'll get over it. Harry and Hermione find it impossible to stay mad at each other for long." -- Ginevra Weasley, Gryffindor, 5th Year
"Hey, is this going in your bloody magazine? Stop quoting me, Parvati or I swear I'll--" -- Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor, 6th Year
"Er... No comment?" -- Harry Potter himself, Gryffindor, 6th Year
"Get out of my face." -- Draco Malfoy, Slytherin, 6th Year
Stay tuned for further updates.
-- Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown
Writers and Editors of Inside Hogwarts
*
Harry found Hermione later that night, sitting in a chair before the fire in the Common Room. She still looked displeased and seemed to be glaring deeply at it, as if it had committed some crime against her. He gulped and took a seat.
"Er... Mione? I'm..."
"Save it, Potter." She spat out. Harry shuddered at how Malfoy-like she'd sounded just then. He fiddled with the hem of his robes, occasionally shooting side glances at her. He never did like it when Hermione was mad at him.
"Look, Hermione, it's not that I didn't want to hug you, because I did." She showed no signs of hearing him, but he continued on anyway. "It's just that, well, we made the bet for a reason you know. You did say that it bothered you that people thought we were together, right? There were a lot of people who would have seen you hugging me..."
"Oh, trust me, I know. In fact, they're still talking." At his confused look, she threw the latest copy of Inside Hogwarts his way. Harry read it silently, his eyebrow raised and when he looked back at her, he was very, very amused.
"You were going to curse Lavender and Pavarti until they were older than Dumbledore?" Harry could tell Hermione was trying not to smile, but despite her efforts, she did anyway. He took that as a sign that it was safe to take the seat next to her on the couch and did so, dumping the magazine on the table in front of them.
"There's a lot more interesting articles in there, you know. They have likely and unlikely couples. This weeks L and U match-ups are Ginny and Malfoy, Ron and Luna, Ron and Me, Malfoy and Luna, Dean and Ginny, Malfoy and Pansy, and Ginny and you." Harry snorted at the last one, causing Hermione to smile and at that he knew he was forgiven. "Want to take a shot at guessing which fell under likely and which fell under unlikely?"
"Sure."
"Okay, Ginny and Malfoy."
"Unlikely."
"Likely, actually. They said that Malfoy would do it to annoy Ron and Ginny would do it because he's drop-dead sexy." Another snort from Harry. "But, anyway, Ron and Luna?"
And just like that, they spent most of the night debating the likely and the unlikely and then fell asleep together on the couch.